The present invention relates to a mounting device for light guides operating as a cooking zone marking and/or residual heat indicator.
Heat indicators or residual heat indicators are known in cooking apparatus with glass-ceramic cooking surfaces. These indicators signal the user whether the cooking zone is hot or already has been cooled sufficiently so that the user can touch the cooking zone without being burned.
German Patent Application DE 92 05 907 U1 describes a device of this type for indicating residual heat in an electric cooking plate. A holder with a pot-shaped light housing is attached by means of attaching arms to the heating element housing. One heating arm engages over an upper edge of the heating element housing and locks in there, while another arm engages under the base of the housing and engages in a hole found there.
Furthermore an apparatus for signaling information and operating condition of a heating apparatus is disclosed in German Patent Application DE 44 25 847 A1. A flat mounting adapter made from temperature-resistant plastic is glued to the underside of the glass-ceramic plate, whereby a dressing of the decor of the cooking surface occurs. The mounting adapter sets the position of the signaling element on the cooking surface upper side for decor, which only needs to be clipped into the mounting adapter. A mounting device is provided, which carries one or more lamps and which is provided with means for locking in the mounting adapter. Incandescent lamps are used as lighting devices, but there is no disclosure regarding their mounting means.
Besides this residual heat indicator illuminated cooking field boundaries are also known, in which a ring bounding the cooking field is primarily illuminated by means of a light source arranged under the cooking surface. The associated glass-ceramic plate is pressed until completely in this ring, so the internal light source is visible through the unpressed ring as a boundary. The required pressing of the glass-ceramic surface limits the freedom in developing newer ceramic designs.
In order to obtain a greater flexibility regarding heating surface boundaries, the use of a light guide system is suggested German Patent Application DE 44 05 610 A1. Several light guides extend from a single light source which end in several light output positions arranged in a circle in the vicinity of the heating field. The glass-ceramic plate is thus illuminated from below at several point-like spots. An attachment device for the light guide ends is however not disclosed.